ECDSA.Fail: Open Autoresearch for Optimizing Elliptic-Curve Point Addition in Shor's Algorithm
A preprint introduces Open Autoresearch, a framework in which human researchers and AI agents submit evaluator-verified improvements to a public leaderboard. The authors apply it to ECDSA.Fail, a benchmark for optimizing reversible secp256k1 point-addition circuits, which they describe as a bottleneck in Shor's algorithm for breaking elliptic-curve cryptography. The benchmark ranks submissions using a spacetime-inspired cost metric.
AI analysis — not reported by the source
What this could mean
- 0–2 yearsPlausible
If the leaderboard gains active participation, it could become a standard public benchmark for reversible circuit optimization, allowing quantum cryptanalysis resource estimates for secp256k1 to be updated continuously within the next two years.
The benchmark provides evaluator-verified scoring and a public leaderboard, which lowers the barrier for both human and AI contributors to test circuit improvements. With sustained submissions, lower spacetime-cost circuits would accumulate quickly, giving cryptographers a more current, data-driven view of how close quantum attacks on ECDSA are to practical feasibility.
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